Abolished: Effective July 1, 1971, by Secretary's Order 2942,
June 30, 1971.

Successor Agencies: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Territorial
Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Land
Management (1971-73); Office of Territorial Affairs (1973-80);
Office of Assistant Secretary for Territorial and International
Affairs (1980- ).

126.2 General Records of the Office of Territories and its
Predecessors
1885-1971

History: General administration of the territories formed out of
lands acquired by the United States on the mainland of North
America vested in the Department of State, 1789. Exercised by the
Secretary of State directly, or by his Chief Clerk, until
establishment of the Home Bureau by Secretary's order, June 30,
1833. Home Bureau redesignated Domestic Bureau, 1853, and
abolished, effective June 30, 1855, by provisions of the Civil
and Diplomatic Appropriation Act (10 Stat. 669), March 3, 1855.
Functions reverted to Chief Clerk until establishment of unit
known as Domestic Records, 1870. Redesignated Territorial and
Domestic Records Bureau, 1872. Abolished concurrent with transfer
of responsibility to the Department of the Interior by act of
March 1, 1873 (17 Stat. 484).

Interior Department territorial administration exercised by the
Patent and Miscellaneous Division, 1873-1907, and by the
Miscellaneous Section in the Office of the Chief Clerk, 1907-34.
Division of Territories and Island Possessions established,
effective July 29, 1934, by EO 6726, May 29, 1934. Redesignated
Office of Territories, 1950. See 126.1.

Functions of the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs
relating to Puerto Rico assigned to Division of Territories and
Island Possessions by EO 6726. Office of Territories
responsibilities with respect to Puerto Rico terminated upon
proclamation of Commonwealth status, July 25, 1952, pursuant to
act approving Puerto Rican constitution (66 Stat. 327), July 3,
1952, as drafted pursuant to the Puerto Rico Federal Relations
Act (64 Stat. 319), July 3, 1950. Residual functions of the
Bureau of Insular Affairs, relating primarily to the Philippine
Islands, transferred to Division of Territories and Island
Possessions, 1939 (see 126.7.)

Interior Department assumed responsibility for territorial
affairs in Alaska pursuant to the act of 1873. Assigned to the
Division of Territories and Island Possessions by Secretary's
Order 1040, February 13, 1936, and to Office of Territories,
1950. Interior Department administration lapsed when Alaska
became a state January 3, 1959, pursuant to an act of July 7,
1958 (72 Stat. 339). Interior Department responsibility for The
Alaska Railroad assigned to Division of Territories and Island
Possessions by Secretary's Order 1040, February 13, 1936, and to
Office of Territories, 1950. (For administrative history of The
Alaska Railroad, see RG 322.)

Alaska Road Commission, established in the War Department by an
act of January 27, 1905 (33 Stat. 616), transferred to the
Department of the Interior by an act of June 30, 1932 (47 Stat.
446). Assigned to Division of Territories and Island Possessions
by Secretary's Order 1040, February 13, 1936, and to Office of
Territories, 1950. Transferred to Bureau of Public Roads,
Department of Commerce, 1956.

Under authority of the act of 1873, the Department of the
Interior claimed original administrative jurisdiction over the
Hawaiian Islands, annexed by joint resolution, July 7, 1898, and
organized as a territory by act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat. 141).
Assigned to Division of Territories and Island Possessions by
Secretary's Order 1040, February 13, 1936, and to Office of
Territories, 1950. Interior Department administration lapsed when
Hawaii became a state August 21, 1959, pursuant to an act of
March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 4).

Administration of the Pacific Equatorial Islands placed under
Department of the Interior by EO's 7368, May 13, 1936 (Baker,
Howland, and Jarvis Islands), and 7828, March 3, 1938 (Canton and
Enderbury Islands), and assigned to Division of Territories and
Island Possessions, and subsequently to Office of Territories,
1950.

Administration of the U.S. Virgin Islands transferred from the
Department of the Navy to the Department of the Interior by EO
5666, February 27, 1931. Assigned to Division of Territories and
Island Possessions by Secretary's Order 1040, February 13, 1936,
and to Office of Territories, 1950. (For administrative history
of the government of the Virgin Islands, see RG 55.)

Administration of the following insular possessions transferred
to the Department of the Interior from the Department of the
Navy, and assigned to the Office of Territories: Guam, by EO
10077, September 7, 1949, with an effective date of July 1, 1950,
set by EO 10137, June 30, 1950; and American Samoa, by EO 10264,
June 29, 1951, effective July 1, 1951.

The Office of Territories was abolished, effective July 1, 1971,
by Secretary's Order 2942, June 30, 1971, creating the position
of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Territorial Affairs (DASTA),
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Land Management.
DASTA superseded by the Office of Territorial Affairs (OTA), May
7, 1973, pursuant to Secretary's Order 2951, February 6, 1973.
OTA superseded by Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Territorial and International Affairs, pursuant to Secretary's
Order 3046, February 14, 1980.

Textual Records: Central classified files relating to
departmental administration of AK, AZ, Guam, HI, NM, OK, the
Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, DC, the Virgin
Islands, equatorial islands, Antarctica; the civilian food
reserve program; trust territories; and The Alaska Railroad,
1907-71. Indexes relating to the central classified files, 1934-
71, and to the Philippine Islands, 1939-46. Letters and
memorandums concerning the Virgin Islands, 1931-34. Cables sent
to and received from Puerto Rico, 1934-40. Project files and
correspondence concerning public works in Alaska and the Virgin
Islands, 1945-61. Office files of the Director of the Division of
Territories and Island Possessions, 1942-45, of the Executive
Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior relating to Alaska,
1929-31, and of the Chief Counsel, 1939-46.

Architectural and Engineering Plans: Public works,
including schools, hospitals, sewer and water facilities, and
airports in Alaska, 1947-61 (6,800 items), and the Virgin
Islands, 1946-60 (2,700 items).

Aerial Photographs: Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands,
1955(68 items).

Photographs: Photographic prints, negatives, and slides of
construction of sanitation and sewer systems, hospitals, schools, and roads,
and the effects of heavy rains in the U.S. Virgin Islands, 1947-56. (VI, 1,575 images).

History: Established by Secretary of the Interior's Order 1767,
November 25, 1942, to research territorial problems and prepare a
report on the subject for the guidance of the Secretary in
setting policy. Terminated upon reassignment of its director,
1944. No report or analysis issued.

History: Established in the Division of Territories and Island
Possessions to administer the emergency food reserve stockpile
provisions of an act providing funds for relief and civil defense
in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (55 Stat.
856), December 23, 1941. Program terminated November 30, 1945.

Textual Records: General records of the Washington, DC, office,
1942-45, including correspondence with the War Food
Administration and the Office of Price Administration, and
minutes of meetings of the Interdepartmental Shipping Priorities
Advisory Committee and the Interagency Food Allocations
Committee.

Related Records: Records of the field representative in Alaska
are described under 126.5.3.

126.3.3 Records of the Executive Officer, Office of
Territories, relating to Korean War activities in U.S. territories under the
Defense Production Act of 1950

History: The Defense Production Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 798),
September 8, 1950, authorized the Office of Territories to allot
materials and set priorities for defense-related projects in AK,
HI, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

History: Established under the Bureau of Insular Affairs in 1917
to pay for purchases made at the direction of the insular
government. Transferred to the Division of Territories and Island
Possessions in 1939. Terminated, September 30, 1945.

History: PRHRC established by joint resolution, December 21, 1928
(45 Stat. 1067), to provide assistance to victims of the
hurricane of September 1928, and later extended to other
hurricanes. Composed of the Secretaries of Agriculture, War, and
the Treasury. Responsibilities administered in Puerto Rico by the
Commission's Board of Alternates, consisting of representatives
of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Collector of Customs at San
Juan, and the Department of Agriculture. Abolished by Public
Resolution 22, 74th Congress, June 3, 1935 (49 Stat. 320),
effective June 18, 1935, with functions devolving upon the
Secretary of the Interior, who issued Order 950, June 18, 1935,
establishing the PRHRLS in the Division of Territories and Island
Possessions, to continue the work of the PRHRC, including the
adjustment of loans made by the former commission. PRHRLS lapsed
following transfer of its functions to the Puerto Rico
Reconstruction Administration, June 30, 1946.

History: Established at Palmer, AK, 1934. Under administration of
the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 1934-35, and the
Work Projects Administration, 1935-38. Transferred to Division of
Territories and Island Possessions, 1938.

126.5.2 Records of the Federal Inter-Agency Alaskan
Development Committee

History: Established at the suggestion of the Secretary of the
Interior, in a circular letter to heads of federal agencies,
October 7, 1947. Consisted of representatives of the Departments
of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior; the Maritime
Commission; the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; the Federal
Security Agency; the Federal Works Agency; and the Housing and
Home Finance Agency. Held eight meetings between October 10,
1947, and December 29, 1948. Records maintained by the Division
of Territories and Island Possessions.

Textual Records: Correspondence, minutes, reports, budget
estimates, and other records relating to plans for the
development of Alaska, 1947-49.

History: Met under the auspices of the Anglo-American Caribbean
Commission at Barbados, British West Indies, March 1944, and at
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, February 1946, to discuss
Caribbean problems, including nutrition, employment, health,
housing, and industrial development. Records maintained by the
Division of Territories and Island Possessions.

History: Program developed in 1949 under general direction of the
Department of the Interior to recruit through the International
Refugee Organization displaced persons with medical degrees for
positions in the U.S. territorial possessions.

126.7 Records of the Office of the U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine Islands
1935-59

History: Philippine Islands acquired by the treaty ending the
Spanish- American War, December 10, 1898. Administered by the War
Department through the Division of Customs and Insular Affairs,
1898-1900, Division of Insular Affairs, 1900-2, and Bureau of
Insular Affairs, 1902-39. Functions transferred to Division of
Territories and Island Possessions, Department of the Interior,
by Reorganization Plan No. II of 1939, effective July 1, 1939.
(For an administrative history of the Bureau of Insular Affairs
and its predecessors, see RG 350). Between November 15, 1935,
when the Commonwealth of the Philippines was declared in
accordance with the Tydings-McGuffie (Independence) Act (48 Stat.
456), March 24, 1934, and July 4, 1946, when the independence of
the Philippines was proclaimed, a U.S. High Commissioner,
reporting through the Bureau of Insular Affairs and subsequently
through the Division of Territories and Island Possessions,
represented U.S. interests. Functions of the U.S. High
Commissioner transferred to the Secretary of the Interior by EO
9245, September 16, 1942. Functions restored by EO 9616,
September 14, 1945.

Textual Records: Records of the U.S. High Commissioner's offices
at Manila, 1935-46, and Washington, DC, 1942-48. List of persons
interned by the Japanese, 1942. Correspondence concerning
internees, 1942-47. Radiograms sent and received, February-
September 1946. Claims of staff members in the High
Commissioner's Office for World War II losses, July 1949.

Finding Aids: Richard S. Maxwell, comp., Preliminary Inventory of
the Records of the U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippine
Islands, PI 151 (1963).

126.7.2 Records relating to the World War II program for
safekeeping currency, gold, securities, and other valuables after
the Japanese invasion of the Philippines

Textual Records: Records relating to the safekeeping program,
including the destruction of currency by U.S. authorities, 1941-
59. Records sent by the Office to the Bureau of Accounts,
Department of the Treasury, and records created by the Bureau in
providing control over the valuables after their transfer to the
continental United States and in acting on claims arising from
the safekeeping program, 1941-59. Lists (counterparts) of
documents received by the Bureau of Accounts from the Office and
an index of important Japanese properties in the Philippine
Islands, 1942.

History: Established by appointment, July 7, 1939, of Richard E.
Byrd to command Antarctic expedition authorized by the Urgent
Deficiency and Supplemental Appropriation Act, June 30, 1939 (53
Stat. 580). Expedition established bases in Bay of Whales (West
Base) January 12, 1940, and on Palmer Peninsula (East Base),
January 14, 1940. Expedition ended by evacuation of Bay of
Whales, February 1, 1941, and Palmer Peninsula, March 22, 1941.
USAS formally terminated, June 30, 1943, upon expiration of final
appropriation.

Aerial Photographs : Oblique photographs taken with
hand held cameras of parts of Antarctica in the vicinity of East
Base and West Base, including negatives and an incomplete set of
prints, 1940 (12,256 items).

Motion Pictures : Silent films, black and white and
color, of the Antarctic expedition, including loading of supplies
in Boston; transiting the Panama Canal; Pitcairn Island; scenes
of icebergs, whales, seals, and penguins; camp near Rockefeller
Mountain; unloading of supplies at West Base; sled dogs in
action; storms and blizzards; laboratory and machine shops; and
general scenes of camp life, 1939-41 (97 reels).

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.